Oil and water separator



June 11, 1929; H. J. SMITH 1,716,934

OIL AND WATER SEPARATOR Filed April 19, 1927 OIL m: V: rm.

75' WITER.

STE/IN.

INVENTOR. Jzuamr J. 5mm

ZMW

HT TOR/V5)- Patented June 11, 1 929.

UNITED STATES HUBERT J. SMITH, 0]? LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA.

OIL AND WATER SEPARATOR.

Application filed April 19,

In producing oil wells particularly those which have produced for aconsiderable length of time, a certain quantity of water is removed fromthe well with the oil. This water may be either salt or fresh, but isusually found to be salt water. Before the oil can be marketed it isnecessary to remove the water and heretofore this has been accomplishedby various mechanical, chemical, and electrical treatments which wereexpensive and entailed a considerable amount of additional labor abovethat required for-the ordinary production of the Well.

An object of my inventionis to provide a simple and inexpensive methodand means of separating the oil and water which will not require theexpenditure of additional labor.

Another object is to provide an oil and water separator which utilizesthe heat of the steam found in or adjacent to every producing well.

A further object is to utilize heat for the separation of oil and waterwhich heat is directly applied to the incoming liquid and whicheliminates the danger of losing a large percentage of the more volatileoil constituents.

In the drawing:

F ig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of my separator.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2, 2

.of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the draw- The numeral 1 indicates a largetank adapted to re-ceivethe liquid from the well and in the center ofthis tank I position a heater 2, said heater extending vertically in thetank and is substantially the entire height thereof. My heater 2comprises a hollow cylinder 3 and a steampipe 4 extends through the wallof the tank 1 and into the heater 2 adjacent the bottom thereof. Ifdesired, steam walls may be placed within the cylinder 3 although I donot find this absolutely essential.

The steam which enters the pipe 4 may be the exhaust from the pumpingengine or it may be steam fed directly from the boilers. A valve 5 inthe pipe 4 regulates the amount of steam entering the cylinder 3.- -Asteam exhaust pipe 6 rises from the top of the cylinder 2 and a valve 7is set in the pipe 6, said valve being useful in event that steam isused directly from the boilder tending to prevent the free escape of thesteam, re-

1927. Serial No; 184,864.

tainingit longer in the cylinder and thus utilizing more of its heat.This valve may be adjusted to suit the particular conditions.

11 from the gas trap, or similar device, said pipe extending downwardlythrough the tank 1 and extends into an arcuate manifold 12 which partlysurrounds the heater 2 adjacent the lower end thereof. Perforations 13are provided in the manifold 12 through which the oil and water passesand impinges upon the outer surface of the cylinder 3 opposite the pointwhere the steam enters through the pipe 4. Thus it will be seen that asthe liquid enters the tank 1 it is brought. into direct contact with aheated surface thus quickly raising the temperature thereof, and thisheating of the incoming liquid tends to -materially assist in theseparation of the oil and water. The oil being lighter passes upw wardlyin the tank through the water, 'as shown at 14, and floats in a layer atthe top of the tank, as shown at 15.

An oil drain pipe 16 extends from the tank 1 adjacent the top thereofand within the. oil area 15, the oil draining through this pipe bygravity. A water outlet pipe 17 extends from adjacent the lower edge ofthe tank 1, said pipe rising to a point adjacent the top of the waterlayer 14. and drains away by gravity.

I have found it desirable to maintain the temperature of the water inthe tank 1 below the boiling point thereof but the exact temperature ofthis water will vary for the different types of oil which may beproduced from different wells. That is, some oils Wlll separate from.the water more readily at a temperature around 150 degrees F., plus orminus, while others Wlll require a temperature of 135 degrees, more orless, but this point will be determined more readily by experimentingwith the particular o l found.

It is, of course, desirable to malntain as low a temperature as possible1n the tank 1 in order that little or none of the lighter stituents ofthe oil should be lost.

Having described my invention, I cla m:

1. An oil and water separator comprising a tank, a heater in said tankadjacent the con- 7 center thereof and extending substantially thedepthof the tank, oil and water intake means'extending from the Well, saidintake means terminating adjacent said heater and adjacent the bottom ofthe tank, whereby the incoming liquid impinges upon the tank, saidheater comprising a hollow cylinder, a steam intake pipe adjacent thebottom of said cylinder, an exhaust pipe extending into the top of saidcylinder, an oil and water intake pipe extending from'the welland-terminating adjacent said heater and adjacent the bottom of the tankwhereby the incoming liquid is caused to impinge upon said heater.

3. An oil and water separator comprising a tank, a heater in said tankadjacent the center thereof and extending vertically therein, saidheater comprising a hollow cylinder, a steam intake pipe adjacent thebottom of said cylinder, an exhaust pipe extend- 1 ing from the top ofsaid cylinder, an oil and water intake pipe extending from the well andterminating adjacent said heater whereby the incoming liquid is causedto impinge upon said heater, a drain pipe extending from said heater, avalve in said drain pipe, anoil outlet pipe extending from the tankadjacent the top thereof,and a water outlet pipe extending from the tankadjacent the bottom thereof.

4. An oil and water separator comprising a tank, a heater in said tankadjacent the center thereof and extending vertically therein, 'a steamintake pipe extending to said heater adjacent the bottom thereof, an oiland water intake pipe, a manifold adjacent the bottom of the heater,said oil and water intake pipe extending to the inanifold, said manifoldhaving perforations therein through which the oil and water passes, andimpinges upon the heater, a drain pipe in said heater, an exhaust pipeextending from the heater, an oil drain pipe extending from the tankadjacent the top thereof, and a water outlet pipe extending from thetank and adjacent the bottom thereof.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

I-IUBERT'J. SMITH.

